NewHydrogen starts hydrogen generator prototype

NewHydrogen, Inc. has begun the prototype development of a complete electrolyser that will showcase its novel low-cost and high-performance catalyst technology.

The prototype will serve as a platform for incorporating additional electrolyser component innovations to be developed by NewHydrogen going forward.

The goal of NewHydrogen’s sponsored research at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) is to lower the cost of green hydrogen by systematically reducing the cost and increasing the performance of critical components of hydrogen generators. These electrolysers split water into oxygen and hydrogen and currently rely on rare materials such as iridium and platinum, which account for a substantial portion of the cost.

The company is now entering the stage of incorporating its novel oxygen and hydrogen catalysts into a complete prototype electrolyser. As the company expands its technology focus beyond catalysts, this prototype will serve as a platform to include additional component innovations related to the gas diffusion layer, ion exchange membrane, and catalyst layer. The company’s ultimate goal is to develop a low-cost, high-performance electrolyser with multiple breakthrough components.

The researchers will first systematically conduct acidic water splitting by using commercial platinum and iridium-based catalysts to evaluate the benchmark performance of current commercial catalysts and set up a standard testing protocol. They will then evaluate the performance of the company’s new catalysts in the prototype electrolyser, such as the activity transition into an electrolytic cell, long-term stability, hydrogen production rate, specific energy consumption and estimated overall costs of new catalysts.

Dr. David Lee, CEO of NewHydrogen. “We look forward to seeing more exciting achievements as we methodically expand our technology focus beyond catalysts in 2023.”